Neville wrote in the Mail on Sunday: " ... when he started in the Capital One Cup against Newcastle 11 days ago, I saw a lean, fit, sharp player bristling with energy and aggression, like the street kid he once was. And he showed the same again when he came on against Tottenham last Saturday before those two great passes for Robin van Persie in the week against FC Cluj.

"Footballers are at their best when life is uncomplicated and all they have to think about is the ball, the pitch and themselves and Wayne is no different. He lives for football, loves winning matches and plays with an edge of aggression because every tackle, every challenge matters to him.

"In fact, he is perhaps one of the last of a dying breed of footballers in the mould of Roy Keane, Bryan Robson, Steven Gerrard and Tony Adams: players with enormous ability in their respective position but who have been formed by the upbringings in England and Ireland and by the British game to fight for every last cause."